I am very very sorry that it took me so long to update.
My muse was off chasing HP plot bunnies for awhile and then when I tryed to get back to this fic I had a horrid case of writer's block.
A thousand and one apologies.
Note: from now on I will be answering reviews via email--I promise to reply to all of them.

The Chronicles of Young Daniel Jackson: Chapter 7

The next morning at breakfast, Teal'c told Daniel that he needed to go into work that day. Hearing this news, young Daniel was very excited. Finally, he could get his questions answered! A wide grin was on his face as he got ready, positively bouncing with anticipation.

It was only after they were in the car and traveling up the road that Daniel got the upsetting news that he would not in fact be joining Teal'c at work--instead he would be going to something called 'daycare'. The grin quickly vanished from his face and a feeling of dread washed over him.

Daniel suddenly felt trapped by his seatbelt. He didn't want to go to daycare. He wanted to go with Teal'c. A whole new set of questions swirled in his mind. What if something happened to Teal'c while he was gone? What if he never came back? What if Teal'c forgot about him? And just what was 'daycare' anyway?

Daniel could not understand why he couldn't just go to work with Teal'c. After all, he had always gone to work with his parents. Tears prickled his eyes and ran silently down his face. He did not want to be left alone.

And so it was with much trepidation that Daniel walked inside the daycare. The whole room in which it was held seemed to be done up in the same four colors: red, blue, yellow, and green. He clung to Teal'c as his wide eyes took in the alphabet rug, the bright colored posters, the shelves of toys, the miniature sets of tables and chairs...and the group children sitting at them. And whole new wave of anxiety washed over him.

He had of course occasionally played with children from nearby villages but the majority of his time had been spent in the company of adults. Not to mention that there had been nothing at all like this in Egypt. The brightly colored room of the daycare was completely foreign to him. A sidelong glance at his guardian reassured him that this was as new to Teal'c as it was to him.

A woman approached them and introduced herself as Miss Linda. As she talked with Teal'c Daniel tried to reassure himself that everything would be fine. He could stay here for a little while while Teal'c went to work. Teal'c squeezed his shoulder reassuringly and Daniel let out a breath he hadn't even known he was holding. He could do this.

Then he saw Teal'c walk toward the doorway. A wave of panic washed over him. What if Teal'c walked out that doorway and he never ever saw him again? What if he disappeared like his parents had?

Daniel decided that he changed his mind: he couldn't do this after all. Why couldn't he just go into work with Teal'c? Or if children weren't allowed there then why couldn't Teal'c just stay home with him? They could invite Sam and Jack over and play with Sothis. He bet Sothis really missed him. Why did they have to leave Sothis all alone? Yes, it really was best if they all just went home.

Daniel opened his mouth to tell this to Teal'c, but it was too late--he had already gone. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he stared at the empty doorway. Teal'c had left him. What if he never came back?

Miss Linda came over and told him that 'Murray' would be back for him this afternoon. She told him that they were going to do lots of fun things today and led him over to a seat at a small blue table.

Daniel sniffed and abruptly stopped his tears as he glanced puzzled at the contents of the tabletop. There was an assortment of neon-colored plastic utensils, molds, and cookie cutters and each child had a blob of an equally brightly-colored substance.

"What is that?" Daniel asked curiously.

This garnered him an incredulous look from the pig-tailed girl beside him.
"Don't cha know what Playdough is??"

Daniel shook his head.

"It's fun!" She said squeezing the Playdough in her hands. "I'm 'Manda," she told him pointing to a nametag on her shirt.

Glancing down Daniel was surprised to see that he too had a nametag on. Taking a deep breath he turned to her and said, "Hello, my name is Daniel."

"You talk funny," 'Manda' said, crinkling up her nose.

Daniel visibly deflated. Hadn't he said it right? He had practiced with his parents proper American introductions and phrases and had been so proud to remember them all. It had worked with Murray. Maybe he should have held out his hand for her to shake?

He tried that, but his hand was ignored. He felt his cheeks heat up and turned his attention to his own Playdough.

Before he knew it, it was time to clean-up the Playdough and move to the alphabet carpet. Once there, they sang a song that he didn't know (though he was reassured to see that most of the other children didn't seem to know it either), talked about the weather, and went over the calendar.

Next, they played a game called 'Farmer in the Dell'. Daniel was glad that Miss Linda explained the game first though even then he was a bit confused until they actually played. It turned out that he really liked the game and even got a turn in the middle. He was disappointed when it was time to move on to something else.

At snack time Miss Linda brought out a food that many of the children were excited about but Daniel had never seen before. They were small fish-shaped crackers that turned out to be quite tasty.

There were three other children at his table: Manda and Chris and Kira who were brother and sister.

"Our daddy's pickin' us up today," Chris said. "Who's pickin' you up?"

"...Murray." Daniel felt proud that he remembered not to call him Teal'c.

"Who's Murray?" Chris asked.

Young Daniel bit his lip. That was a tough question...who was 'Murray'? There were so many things that Murray was to him that he couldn't put them into words. 'Murray' was...Teal'c...his Teal'c. And Teal'c was safety and comfort and protection and so much more. ...But he didn't think that that was what Chris was asking.

Teal'c wasn't his father, uncle, grandfather, or cousin. Teal'c was his...what was the word? Daniel scrunched up his nose as he thought. He knew there was an English word that fit Teal'c perfectly--he even knew that it began with a 'g'. But he could not think of it and so settled for:
"He takes care of me."

"Like a daddy?" Kira asked.

Young Daniel furrowed his brow. He hadn't thought of it like that. It did fit though.

"Why do you call your daddy, Murray?" Manda asked. "Is he your new daddy? My mommy and daddy got a daborse when I was really little and now I have a new daddy. I call him Daddy Rick," she informed him.

Daniel couldn't really see himself calling Teal'c 'Daddy Murray' or even 'Daddy Teal'c'. And he couldn't just call him 'daddy'--he already had a daddy...

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Miss Linda telling them that it was time to clean-up snack. They then went outside where there was a large colorful plastic structure with ladders and slides. But that wasn't what captured young Daniel's attention. What he headed straight for was the sandbox beside it.

Right away he started to pull off his shoes--but was told, much to his disappointment, that he had to keep them on. So he settled for running the sand through his fingers instead. He hadn't realized how much he had missed sand until now. He closed his eyes and imagined that he was back in Egypt. The familiar scent of hot sand, the feel of it beneath his bare feet, the sight of the unending stretch of it before him--distorted slightly by the haze of the heat. The familiar presence of the pyramids-- nearly always in the background, the...

A loud clanging noise brought him out of his thoughts with a jolt. Miss Linda was ringing a bell. It was time to go in. Why must they stop so soon? He cast one last longing look at the sandbox as he went back inside.

Daniel let out a sigh as he sat back down at a table to color. He didn't understand America where they kept their sand in boxes. Though he did wish that he had a box of sand for his own...

"Why didn't you color inside the lines?" Chris asked him, looking over at Daniel's paper.

Daniel flushed. He had been coloring his paper in the different colors of the sunrise. He had noticed the dark black outline that made up the form of a dog, but hadn't really thought much about it.

"I didn't know I was supposed to," he finally admitted and ducked his head. He let out another sigh and painstakingly began to color inside the lines toward the bottom of the paper where he hadn't yet colored. It was just one more thing that he did not understand.

Afterwards, Miss Linda read them a story. It was a very exciting story about animals in a jungle. Daniel was fascinated by it as it reminded him a bit of a story that he had heard before. When Miss Linda finished young Daniel started to tell her about the other story that he had heard. He got more and more excited as he told it. He was partway through when he stiffened as he noticed that the other children were staring at him and that a couple were laughing.

"I'm sorry; Daniel," Miss Linda said gently, "but we can't understand you, honey."

Daniel flushed as he realized what had happened. He hadn't even realized that he had been speaking in Arabic. That was the language that flowed most easily from his tongue. The language that he had grown up surrounded by. English seemed to be so much harder to grasp. And now it seemed he didn't know the language nearly as well as he believed he had. There was so much that he didn't know how to say...so much that he didn't understand.

Tears pricked at Daniel's eyes. He didn't belong here at all. Everything he did seemed to be wrong. Why couldn't he have just stayed in Egypt? He couldn't ever remember the children there teasing him.

Daniel was vaguely aware of Miss Linda there trying to comfort him, but he could not be consoled. He didn't belong here and he wondered if he ever would. It was all too different. Too new. He didn't understand it here and no one here seemed to understand him either. There was nothing so frustrating as not being understood. He wanted his mommy and daddy...he wanted his Teal'c.

And then Teal'c was there, lifting him up into his arms.

"What is wrong, youngDaniel?"

"I forgot to speak in English and I didn't stay in the lines and they keep sand in a box and I didn't know about Playdough," he whispered into his shoulder.

"What is 'play doe'?"

Daniel felt a rush of gratitude. A smile crept on his face and he clung even more tightly to Teal'c as they walked to the car. Finally here was someone who understood.

Years later Daniel would state that he didn't know what he would have done if it wasn't for Teal'c. It meant so much, he would say, that there was someone there who understood how hard it was to adjust to a whole new culture.

As Teal'c tucked him into bed that night, Daniel remembered something from earlier that he had been thinking about all day.

"Teal'c?" he whispered.

"Yes, youngDaniel?"

"Can I call you papa?"

"I would be honored, youngDaniel."

Young Daniel had smile on his face that night as he drifted off to sleep.

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Daniel's answer to the question 'why didn't you color inside the lines?' was the real response given by a four-year-old that I know.

I hope I still have some readers left after such a long wait! (again, my apologies!)
Please review and let me know that you haven't given up on me.